Damage and debris from a house explosion are seen in Mooresville, N.C., Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. Robert M. Farley, father of Tennessee Titans cornerback Caleb Farley, died overnight in the explosion that destroyed the NFL player’s North Carolina home and left another person injured, authorities said.Photo:AP/Steve Reed
AP/Steve Reed
Investigators determined that Tennessee Titans playerCaleb Farley’s home was destroyed due to a natural gas explosion, the Iredell County Fire Marshal’s office said Tuesday,WCNC reported.
The explosion led to the death of Farley’s father Robert Farley, who had been living in the Mooresville, North Carolina home. He was 61.
Caleb Farley #3 of the Tennessee Titans.Wesley Hitt/Getty
Wesley Hitt/Getty
Caleb, who was in Nashville at the time of the explosion,toldWCNC on Tuesday that he received a call from a neighbor shortly after the blast occurred overnight and immediately looked for a flight to return home.
The Titans cornerback honored his father in an emotional social media post on Wednesday.Caleb shared an Instagram storyshowing dozens and dozens of people gathered at a memorial for his father. “Daddy you a legend,” he wrote alongside one clip of a man giving a speech. “I love you [for life].”
In another story, Caleb wrote: “You wasn’t suppose to go out like this pop.”
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“I was really emotional,” the NFL star said. “It’s just been a hectic rollercoaster of a ride. And not only today, but just for me in the past five years, period.”
Caleb’s mother died from breast cancer in 2019.
Caleb Farley Remembers His Late Father As a ‘Legend’ Days After Fatal Home Explosion.Caleb Farley/Instagram
Caleb Farley/Instagram
Caleb’s coach, Mike Vrabel, and several teammates in the Titans organization spoke with the media to offer their support and concern for the cornerback and his family.
“What’s important is that we do everything we can to support Caleb and his family,” Vrabel said to reporters on Aug. 22. “Everything else is pretty trivial.”
“It’s just very tragic,” Byard said. “As a team and as a brother, all we can do and all I can do is try to be there for him. It’s going to be tough. It’s an unimaginable tragedy.”
source: people.com
